Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov

Human Rights Foundation uncovers a slew of other instances

(Newser) -
After it came out that Jennifer Lopez scored a big payday to sing happy birthday to Turkmenistan dictator Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov , her rep insisted that had J.Lo known of any "human rights issues," she of course would not have attended the soiree. But the Human Rights Foundation implies...
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She's still, she's still Jenny from the Bloc

(Newser) -
Jennifer Lopez got at least $1.5 million to sing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" Saturday night at a 56th birthday party for Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, leader of the former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan—a man whose regime is described as "among the most repressive in the world" by Human...
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He enters at last minute and, surprise, surprise, is the victor

(Newser) -
US presidents like to throw out the first pitch at baseball games, but Turkmenistan President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov takes sport to a whole new level, coming in first in a Turkmenistan car race today. Driving a Turkish-made Volkicar. In a race he wasn't even scheduled to enter. Well, that's...
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New leader rolls back

(Newser) -
In a step away from the legacy of its late dictator, who renamed each month after heroes, poets, and himself, Turkmenistan’s president urged a return to traditional month names, the Guardian reports. April had been named after Saparmurat Niyazov’s mother, while September was a reference to Niyazov’s...
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